Research analyst at the market research firm, George Fulep, told FoodNavigator.com that novel concepts such as Femme Natural Boost, an energy drink developed for the female market in Sweden and - Natural Magic Energy - an energy drink from Magic House Sweden marketed on a free-from taurine, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives platform - are grabbing market share in that country.
The Swedish energy drink market is expected to grow by about 27% in off-trade constant value terms by 2016, so Fulep stressed that unique product designs and concepts can help brands capture new consumer categories or greater shelf space.
Stockholm-based company, Femme Natural Energy, launched Femme Natural Boost in the summer of 2011, said the analyst. The drink incorporates unroasted coffee beans and is packed in a slim rose colour can, which is, in the main, sold in grocery stores close to university locations.
Energy drinks go organic
Fulep notes another interesting energy brand launch in Sweden last year was White Tiger developed by First Class Beverages of Sweden. It is a fair trade certified organic energy drink that is available in two different formats: White Tiger Organic Energy and White Tiger Slim Organic Energy with 33% less sugar.
Brands that ‟focus on organic and fair trade products are expected to gain popularity from their current low base, even though less than those who focus on one yet unutilized consumer group,” said the Lithuanian-based beverage industry specialist.
Consumer migration away from artificial chemicals and synthetics in products is fuelling demand for organic in this category in that market, said Fulep.
Dynamic expansion
Energy drinks saw dynamic expansion in 2011 in Sweden. The category is dominated by off-trade sales in that country, which corresponded to 87% of total volume sales in 2011, according to data from Euromonitor.
Red Bull Nordic remained the leader and took more than a half of the energy drinks market in terms of off-trade value sales.
In total, the Swedish off-trade energy drinks market grew by more than 10% in current value terms during 2011, reaching SEK492m (€56m) in off-trade value terms and 8.9 million litres in off-trade volume terms, data from Euromonitor indicates.
Leading global energy drink brand Rockstar, while available in Sweden, is not a major player in terms of retail sales there, said Fulep, who said that the energy shots category in the market is also very marginal.
Drawing down comparisons between the Swedish market and the UK market, where energy drinks are key products for 16 to 24 year olds, Euromonitor data shows off-trade consumption of energy drinks in Sweden was at 8.92 million litres while off-trade consumption of energy drinks in the UK reached 399 million litres in 2011.